[U] ICE & ORR Intentionally Violating Court Orders -- To This Day, At Trump's Direction. THESE ARE... CHILDREN.

UPDATED 02.23.19 @ Noon: Late on Friday in San Diego, the able Judge Sabraw entered the following order:

". . .IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:

1. On or before February 28, 2019, defense counsel shall provide to Class Counsel the list of persons subject to removal. Counsel shall meet and confer on the best way to cull that list down to persons with expedited removal orders.

2. Defense counsel shall advise Immigration and Customs Enforcement that class members subject to the settlement agreement in this case may not be removed without first providing them with notice of the settlement and an opportunity to decide whether they wish to take advantage of the settlement procedures or waive those procedures.

3. Counsel shall provide the Court with an update on these issues in the next Joint Status Report.

4. The Court will reserve any ultimate decision on Plaintiffs’ motion pending the outcome of the meet and confer efforts set out above.

SO ORDERED. Dated: February 22, 2019. . . ."

[End, updated portion.]

I cannot fathom the mind, of a president (apparently) that feels it is "his right" to continue to direct federal agents at ORR and ICE to separate very young children from their parents or guardians at the southern border -- after being explicitly ordered by a federal court to stop doing so.

It is time for contempt orders, in my opinion. There was a status hearing late yesterday in San Diego. Orders are supposed to issue, according to the minute entry. I hope they start to include more severe sanctions, for intentionally ignoring court directives -- by Trump's administration. Here is the latest from the ACLU, and a bit of it:

. . . .Plaintiffs’ primary unaddressed concern is with the 218 separations that reportedly took place after this Court’s injunction, through December 26, 2018. OIG Report (Dkt. 344-1) at 14, 21. OIG noted that these separations are happening at “more than twice the rate that ORR observed in 2016.” Id. at 11. The Report analyzed 118 of these separations and found:

○ 69 percent of these separations were of children under 13 years old; 23 percent were of children under 5 years old;

○ Some children were reported by ORR as separated on the basis of “immigration history only”; or because the adult lacked proof of legal guardianship; or with so little detail provided that OIG could not determine the reason for separation. . . .

This concern is particularly salient in light of recent disclosures from the government’s counsel of purported criminal exclusions from Ms. L — one parent was reported as excluded on the basis of a littering conviction, another for a fake ID — which raise concerns that ongoing separations may not be in compliance with the Court’s orders. Plaintiffs are also hearing from advocates that the government is separating a substantial number of families, and thus there may be more than 218 post-June 26 separations. In light of the OIG Report and information from advocates on the ground, plaintiffs intend to raise with the Court the need to ensure that there are (1) clear standards for future separations by DHS, and (2) a meaningful process to ensure that families can contest separations.

Finally, as the Court is aware, in December the government reported 149 additional separated children. Most were released from ORR care after the June 26 preliminary injunction and before the government certified a list of separated children on July 11. The OIG Report found about 300 potentially separated children did not appear in the July 11 list, and were released from ORR care in the same June 26-July 11 window. OIG Report at 9-10. The difference between about 300 and 149 additional separated children is not addressed in the government’s response. . . .

It is appalling. Simply appalling that week after week, month after month, these government agents violate US law, and court orders, at Trump's explicit direction. These are. . . babies.

नमस्ते